1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an assemblability and reverse-assemblability evaluating method and apparatus for simultaneously evaluating the assemblability of evaluation targets including, for example, at least one component, composite products in which a plurality of components are combined together, semifinished products in which a plurality of components are assembled together, and finished products, and the reverse assemblability including at least disassemblability, classifiability, reusability, and safety of the evaluation targets.
2. Description of Related Art
As this type of evaluation method, conventionally, there has been available, for example, an evaluation method in which a commercial product is evaluated in terms of producibility at its design stage so that its components evaluated with low scores are found out. Also, independently of this method, a reusability evaluation method for designs taking into account the recent year""s recyclability has also begun to be developed.
However, there has conventionally been available no method for simultaneously evaluating producibility and recyclability, and moreover for exploiting the evaluation for design improvement.
Therefore, as a conventional practice, data is entered into and used in various data evaluation units for assemblability evaluation of a product. Further, the data that has once been used for the evaluation of assemblability has been re-entered into evaluation units for evaluation of recyclability of the product, which has been troublesome. Also, some products involve evaluating assemblability and reusability independently of each other. Such independent evaluation makes it impossible to determine, in a single evaluation, whether the recyclability can be improved when the assemblability is improved. Therefore, it is necessary to re-enter, after the assemblability has been improved, data to the evaluation apparatus with respect to the reusability, and re-evaluate the reusability. In such a case, the reusability may become much worse, while the assemblability has been improved. This would give rise to balancing improvement in assemblability and reusability by relying on trial and error or an operator""s experience. Thus, it has been quite difficult to simultaneously improve both assemblability and reusability.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to solve these and other issues and to provide an assemblability and a reverse-assemblability evaluating method and apparatus capable of simultaneously evaluating assemblability including producibility and reverse assemblability including recyclability.
In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has the following constitutions.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an assemblability and reverse-assemblability evaluating method, comprising: with respect to a plurality of evaluation items for evaluating assemblability of an evaluation-target product, entering assemblability evaluation information as to the evaluation-target product; and performing assemblability evaluation based on the entered assemblability evaluation information and, simultaneously, performing reverse-assemblability evaluation based on reverse-assemblability evaluation information which is among the entered assemblability evaluation information and which is usable for evaluation items for performing the reverse-assemblability evaluation.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an assemblability and reverse-assemblability evaluating method as described in the first aspect, wherein the method comprises: with respect to a plurality of evaluation items for evaluating the reverse assemblability of the evaluation-target product, further entering reverse-assemblability evaluation information as to the evaluation-target product; and performing the assemblability evaluation based on the entered assemblability evaluation information and, simultaneously, performing the reverse-assemblability evaluation based on the reverse-assemblability evaluation information as well as on the entered reverse-assemblability evaluation information which is among the entered assemblability evaluation information and which is usable for the evaluation items for, evaluating the, reverse-assemblability evaluation.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided an, assemblability and reverse-assemblability evaluating method as described in the first or second aspect, wherein the term, assemblability, refers to, at least, ease of production or ease of assembly of the evaluation-target product which is a single component, a composite product in which a plurality of components are combined together, a semifinished product in which a plurality of components are assembled together, or a finished product, and the term, reverse assemblability, refers to, at least, ease of disassembly, ease of classification, ease of reuse, and safety.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an assemblability and reverse-assemblability evaluating method as described in any one of the first to third aspects, wherein entering the. evaluation information is implemented by entering selectional information to be selected from among a plurality of answer items, numerical information to be answered by entering specific numerical values, and YES/NO type information to be entered as YES or NO in response to questions in the evaluation items with respect to the evaluation-target product, and evaluating the assemblability and the reverse assemblability based on the entered evaluation information is implemented by giving evaluation scores for the acquired evaluation information to thereby simultaneously accomplish the evaluation of the assemblability and the reverse assemblability.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an assemblability and reverse-assemblability evaluating method as described in any one of the first to fourth aspects, wherein the evaluation items for the assemblability are preparation for a base component of the evaluation-target product, suppliability, holdability, assemblability, combinability, necessity or non-necessity of adjustment, component sharability, and component omittability of the evaluation-target product.
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an assemblability and reverse-assemblability evaluating method as described in the fifth aspect, wherein as more detailed evaluation items for the preparation of the base component, posture change of the base component, and necessity or non-necessity of any special jig for the base component are evaluated; as more detailed evaluation items for the suppliability of the evaluation-target product, at least, posture change of the evaluation-target product, vulnerability of the evaluation-target product, indefinite shape as an evaluation-target product""s own shape, outline feature of the valuation-target product, and entanglement of the evaluation-target product are evaluated; as more detailed evaluation items for the holdability, at least, necessary chuck and chuck space for holding the evaluation-target product are evaluated; as more detailed evaluation items for the assemblability, at least, positionability, direction of assembly, and stability of the evaluation-target product are evaluated; as more detailed evaluation items for the combinability, at least, number and direction of tightening screws in assembly process of the evaluation-target product, and places number and direction of tightening other than the tightening screws in the assembly process are evaluated; as a more detailed evaluation item for the necessity or non-necessity of adjustment, at least, necessity or non-necessity of various adjustments in the assembly process of the evaluation-target product is evaluated; as a more detailed evaluation item for the component sharability, at least, how sharability of components of the evaluation-target product is accomplished-is evaluated; and as a more detailed evaluation item for the component omittability, at least, possibility that one of the components of the evaluation-target product can be omitted is evaluated.
According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided an assemblability and reverse-assemblability evaluating method as described in any one of the first to sixth aspects, wherein the evaluation items for the reverse assemblability are disassemblability, classifiability, reusability, and safety.
According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an assemblability and reverse-assemblability evaluating method as described in the seventh aspect, wherein as a more concrete evaluation item for the disassemblability is de-combinability, where as more detailed evaluation items for the de-combinability, at least, tightening place, pre- and post-processing, combination type, combination direction, tightening screw sharability, and tightening direction of tightening screws are evaluated; as a more concrete evaluation item for the component reusability, possibility of reuse of components of the evaluation-target product is evaluated; as more concrete evaluation items for the classifiability, component weight and number of material types are evaluated; and as more concrete evaluation items for the safety, at least, whether or not any harmful substance is contained is evaluated.
According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an assemblability and reverse-assemblability evaluating method as described in any one of the first to fifth aspects, wherein the evaluation items for the assemblability are preparation for a base component of the evaluation-target product, suppliability, holdability, assemblability, combinability, necessity or non-necessity of adjustment, component sharability and component omittability of the evaluation-target product, where as more detailed evaluation items for the preparation for the base component, posture change of the base component, and necessity or non-necessity of any special jig for the base component are evaluated; as more detailed evaluation items for the suppliability of the evaluation-target product, at least, posture change of the evaluation-target product, vulnerability of the evaluation-target product, indefinite shape as an evaluation-target product""s own shape, outline characteristic of the evaluation-target product, and entanglement of the evaluation-target product are evaluated; as more detailed evaluation items for the holdability, at least, necessary chucks and chuck space for holding the evaluation-target product are evaluated; as more detailed evaluation items for the assemblability, at least, positionability, direction of assembly, and stability of the evaluation-target product are evaluated; as more detailed evaluation items for the combinability, at least, number and direction of tightening screws in assembly process of the evaluation-target product, and places number and direction of tightening other than the tightening screws in the assembly process are evaluated, as a more detailed evaluation item for the necessity or non-necessity of adjustment, at least, necessity or non-necessity of various adjustments in the assembly process of the evaluation-target product is evaluated; as a more detailed evaluation item for the component sharability, at least, how sharability of components of the evaluation-target product is accomplished is evaluated; and as a more detailed evaluation item for the component omittability, at least, possibility that one of components of the evaluation-target product can be omitted is evaluated, while the evaluation items for the reverse assemblability are disassemblability, classifiability, reusability, and safety, where a more concrete evaluation item for the disassemblability is de-combinability, where as more detailed evaluation items for the de-combinability, at least, tightening place, pre- and post-processing, combination type, combination direction, tightening screw sharability, and tightening direction of tightening screws are evaluated; as a more concrete evaluation item for the component reusability, possibility of reuse of components of the evaluation-target product is evaluated; as more concrete evaluation items for the classifiability, component weight and number of material types are evaluated; and as a more concrete evaluation item for the safety, at least, whether or not any harmful substance is contained is evaluated, and wherein: information on the evaluation items of the combinability and the component omittability is shared between the assemblability evaluation and the reverse-assemblability evaluation, information on the evaluation items of the component weight and the number of material types is shared between the de-combinability evaluation and the classifiability evaluation, and information on the evaluation item of the material type is shared between the classifiability and the safety.
According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an assemblability and reverse-assemblability evaluating method as described in the fifth, sixth, or ninth aspect, wherein at a time point when evaluation for the evaluation-target product is done, an assembly total score for a component that is possible to omit is set to 0.
According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided an assemblability and reverse-assemblability evaluating method as described in any one of the first to tenth aspects, wherein as results of the assemblability and reverse-assemblability evaluation, at least, information including at least an assemblability evaluation graph, structural characteristics of the evaluation-target product, extraction of omittable components, and assembly man-hours can be outputted at least in a table or graph form, and information including a reverse-assembly flow chart, a reverse-assemblability evaluation graph, extraction of unnecessary-to-disassemble/reuse components, reverse-assembly man-hours, use amount of each material, and rate of recyclability can be outputted at least in a table or graph form.
According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an assemblability and reverse-assemblability evaluating apparatus comprising: at least, a computing unit into which assembly information as to an evaluation-target product as well as information on component name, assembly sequence, and quantity in number as to an evaluation-target product is entered, wherein the computing unit stores the information in a storage unit, prepares an assembly flow chart in an assembly-flow-chart preparing section based on the information stored in the storage unit and CAD information as to the evaluation-target product and stores the assembly flow chart into the storage unit, extracts from the storage unit information on assembly components, information on a base component, information on a relation between the assembly components and the base component, and component detail information on combination type out of the information prepared in the assembly flow chart preparation and stored in the storage unit, and based on the extracted information, performs the assemblability and reverse-assemblability evaluation by using at least computational equations, evaluation criteria, evaluation scores, man-hours, and particular-component extraction logics, necessary for the assemblability and reverse-assemblability evaluation which are stored in a database for the assemblability and reverse-assemblability evaluation.
According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an assemblability and reverse-assemblability evaluating apparatus as described in the twelfth aspect, wherein an evaluation unit comprises an assemblability evaluation section and a reverse-assemblability evaluation section, and wherein into the assemblability evaluation section, type information as to whether the evaluation-target product is a single product, a composite product, or a semifinished product, material information on those products, base component information, information on suppliability of the evaluation-target product, information on holdability, information on assemblability, information on combinability, information on adjusting work, information on sharability, and information on component omittability is entered, based on which information the assemblability evaluation is executed, while into the reverse-assemblability evaluation section, the type information as to whether the evaluation-target product is a single product, a composite product, or a semifinished product, the material information on those products, the information on assemblability, the information on combinability, the information on sharability, and the information on component omittability is entered from the assemblability evaluation section out of the information entered into the assemblability evaluation section, and independently of this, component weight information and information on reusability is entered, and based on these pieces of information, the reverse assemblability evaluation is executed.
According to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an assemblability and reverse-assemblability evaluating apparatus as described in the twelfth or thirteenth aspect, wherein results of the evaluation in the evaluation unit are stored into the storage unit and evaluation result information stored in the storage unit is outputted at least in a graph or table form by an output device.
According to a fifteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an assemblability and reverse-assemblability evaluating apparatus as described in any one of the twelfth to fourteenth aspects, wherein the term, assemblability, refers to, at least, ease of production or ease of assembly of the evaluation-target product which is a single component, a composite product in which a plurality of components are combined together, a semifinished product in which a plurality of components are assembled together, or a finished product, and the term, reverse assemblability, refers to, at least, disassemblability, classifiability, reusability, and safety.
According to a sixteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an assemblability and reverse-assemblability evaluating apparatus as described in any one of the twelfth to fifteenth aspects, wherein entering the evaluation information is implemented by entering selectional information to be selected from among a plurality of answer items, numerical information to be answered by entering specific numerical values, and YES/NO type information to be entered as YES or NO in response to questions in the evaluation items with respect to the evaluation-target product, and evaluating the assemblability and the reverse assemblability based on the entered evaluation information is implemented by giving evaluation scores for the acquired evaluation information to thereby simultaneously accomplish the evaluation of the assemblability and the reverse assemblability.
According to a seventeenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an assemblability and reverse-assemblability evaluating apparatus as described in any one of the twelfth to sixteenth aspects, wherein the evaluation items for the assemblability are preparation for the base component of the evaluation-target product, suppliability, holdability, assemblability, combinability, necessity or non-necessity of adjustment, component sharability, and component omittability of the evaluation-target product.
According to an eighteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an assemblability and reverse-assemblability evaluating apparatus as described in the seventeenth aspect, wherein as more detailed evaluation items for the preparation of the base component, posture change of the base component, and necessity or non-necessity of any special jig for the base component are evaluated; as more detailed evaluation items for the suppliability of the evaluation-target product, at least, posture change of the evaluation-target product, vulnerability of the evaluation-target product, indefinite shape as an evaluation-target product""s own shape, outline feature of the evaluation-target product, and entanglement of the evaluation-target product are evaluated; as more detailed evaluation items for the holdability, at least, necessary chuck and chuck space for holding the evaluation-target product are evaluated; as more detailed evaluation items for the assemblability, at least, positionability, direction of assembly, and stability of the evaluation-target product are evaluated; as more detailed evaluation items for the combinability, at least, number and direction of tightening screws in assembly process of the evaluation-target product, and number and direction of tightening places other than the tightening screws in the assembly process are evaluated; as a more detailed evaluation item for the necessity or non-necessity of adjustment, at least, necessity or non-necessity of various adjustments in the assembly process of the evaluation-target product is evaluated; as a more detailed evaluation item for the component sharability, at least, how sharability of components of the evaluation-target product is accomplished; and as a more detailed evaluation item for the component omittability, at least, possibility that components of the evaluation-target product can be omitted is evaluated.
According to a nineteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an assemblability and reverse-assemblability evaluating apparatus as described in any one of the twelfth to eighteenth aspects, wherein the evaluation items for the reverse assemblability are disassemblability, classifiability, reusability, and safety.
According to a twentieth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an assemblability and reverse-assemblability evaluating apparatus as described in the nineteenth aspect, wherein a more concrete evaluation item for the disassemblability is de-combinability, where as more detailed evaluation items for the de-combinability, at least, tightening place, pre- and post-processing, combination type, combination direction, tightening screw sharability, and tightening direction of tightening screws are evaluated; as a more concrete evaluation item for the component reusability, possibility of reuse of components of the evaluation-target product is evaluated; as more concrete evaluation items for the classifiability, component weight and number of material types are evaluated; and as a more concrete evaluation item for the safety, at least, whether or not any harmful substance is contained is evaluated.
According to a twenty-first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an assemblability and reverse-assemblability evaluating apparatus as described in any one of the twelfth to sixteenth aspects, wherein the evaluation items for the assemblability are preparation for the base component of the evaluation-target product, suppliability, holdability, assemblability, combinability, necessity or non-necessity of adjustment, component sharability, and component omittability of the evaluation-target product, where as more detailed evaluation items for the preparation for the base component, posture change of the base component, and necessity or non-necessity of any special jig for the base component are evaluated; as more detailed evaluation items for the suppliability of the evaluation-target product, at least, posture change of the evaluation-target product, vulnerability of the evaluation-target product, indefinite shape as an evaluation-target product""s own shape, outline feature of the evaluation-target product, and entanglement of the evaluation-target product are evaluated; as more detailed evaluation items for the holdability, at least, necessary chucks and chuck space for holding the evaluation-target product are evaluated; as more detailed evaluation items for the assemblability, at least, positionability, direction of assembly, and stability of the evaluation-target product are evaluated; as more detailed evaluation items for the combinability, at least, number and direction of tightening. screws in assembly process of the evaluation-target product, and number and direction of tightening places other than the tightening screws in the assembly process are evaluated; as a more detailed evaluation item for the necessity or non-necessity of adjustment, at least, necessity or non-necessity of various adjustments in the assembly process of the evaluation-target product is evaluated; as a more detailed evaluation item for the component sharability, at least, how sharability of components of the evaluation-target product is accomplished is evaluated; and as a more detailed evaluation item for the component omittability, at least, possibility that components of the evaluation-target product can be omitted is evaluated, while the evaluation items for the reverse assemblability are disassemblability, classifiability, reusability, and safety, where a more concrete evaluation item for the disassemblability is de-combinability, where as more detailed evaluation items for the de-combinability, at least, tightening place, pre- and post-processing, combination type, combination direction, tightening screw sharability, and tightening direction of tightening screws are evaluated; as a more concrete evaluation item for the component reusability, possibility of reuse of components of the evaluation-target product is evaluated; as more concrete evaluation items for the classifiability, component weight and number of material types are evaluated; and as a more concrete evaluation item for the safety, at least, whether or not any harmful substance is contained is evaluated, and wherein: information on the evaluation items of combinability and the component omittability is shared between the assemblability evaluation and the reverse-assemblability evaluation, information on the evaluation items of the component weight and the number of material types is shared between the de-combinability evaluation and the classifiability evaluation, and information on the evaluation item of the material type is shared between the classifiability and the safety.
According to a twenty-second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an assemblability and reverse-assemblability evaluating apparatus as described in the thirteenth, seventeenth, eighteenth, or twenty-first aspect, wherein at a time point when evaluation for the evaluation-target product is done, an assembly total score for a component that is possible to omit is set to 0.
According to a twenty-third aspect of the present invention, there is provided an assemblability and reverse-assemblability evaluating apparatus as described in any one of the twelfth to twenty-second aspects, wherein as results of the assemblability and reverse-assemblability evaluation, at least, information including at least an assemblability evaluation graph, structural characteristics of the evaluation-target product, extraction of omittable components, and assembly man-hours can be outputted by the output device at least in a table or graph form, and information including at least a reverse-assembly flow chart, a reverse-assemblability evaluation graph, extraction of unnecessary-to-disassemble/reuse components, reverse-assembly man-hours, use amount of each material, and rate of recyclability can be outputted by the output device at least in a table or graph form.
With the above constitution, if evaluation items are selected based on the work of actual an assembly process, the operator (e.g., designer) enters information on the evaluation items directly to the evaluation apparatus based on actual assembly work. On the other hand, it can be seen that, assuming that the reverse-assembly process, such as disassembly for which the reverse assemblability such as reusability, is evaluated as a reverse flow to the above assembly process, the reverse assemblability is automatically evaluated while the information for the evaluation of the reverse assemblability, which is unknown from the assemblability, can be entered into the evaluation apparatus. As a result, the operator is enabled to enter information with better understanding of the assembly and the reverse-assembly work such as disassembly, which helps the operator to concretely find out improvement proposals for both assemblability and reverse assemblability.
With respect-to evaluation-target products, without being limited to finished products, the evaluation unit may be set as a unit product (semifinished product), a composite product made up of a plurality of components, and one component, in which case an operator, such as a designer or production line worker, is able to evaluate the assemblability and the reverse assemblability in such a unit that is made closest to the form in which finished products, semifinished products, and components are recognized. With respect to comparisons between an operator""s company""s new products, and conventional products as well as comparisons with competitive company""s products, assemblability and reverse assemblability can be relatively evaluated in such levels as product level, semifinished product level, and component level.
In conventional evaluation of assemblability, there are many cases where only design information such as xe2x80x9cpositional relation of componentsxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9ctightening meansxe2x80x9d are taken as evaluation items. However, in such cases, although entry is simple (or can be automatically achieved by direct coupling with a CAD (Computer Aided Design) system), there is a gap from assemblability in actual assembly. As such, the evaluation accuracy is sacrificed. In contrast to this, in the method and apparatus of the present invention, evaluation items representing actual assembly such as xe2x80x9cposture changexe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9choldabilityxe2x80x9d enable setting and entry of information on assemblability and the like. Consequently, the operator entry is aided, and assemblability and reverse assemblability can be evaluated with higher accuracy.
Further, if the operator enters information into the evaluation apparatus in response to the questions as to the evaluation items on assemblability or on assemblability and reverse assemblability, it becomes possible to output, for example, forward and reverse assemblability evaluation scores as to assemblability and reverse assemblability, a necessary-to-improve component list, reusable components, an unnecessary-to-disassemble component list, assembly man-hours, disassembly man-hours, and the like as evaluation results of the assemblability and the reverse assemblability, so that the assemblability and the reverse assemblability can be evaluated simultaneously. That is, according to the present invention, if the assemblability and the reverse assemblability evaluation is performed, for example, at design stage, then assemblability such as producibility as well as reverse assemblability, such as recyclability, can be evaluated simultaneously in a short time, which can lead to a design improvement. Also, since the evaluation of the reverse assemblability is performed principally based on information acquired on evaluation items related to the assemblability, the operator is enabled to accurately evaluate not only the assemblability but also the reverse assemblability even if he is not so conscious of the reverse assemblability.
Also, conventionally, when the evaluation of assemblability and the evaluation of reusability are executed independently of each other, it would be difficult to simultaneously accomplish an improvement in the evaluation of assemblability and an improvement in the evaluation of reusability. In contrast to this, in the present invention, the evaluation of the assemblability and the evaluation of the reverse assemblability are simultaneously executed. It can be easily predicted that, for example, if components or units, or the like, that are worse in the evaluation of the assemblability and the reverse assemblability are improved in terms of low scored items, then the evaluation of both assemblability and reverse assemblability can be enhanced, so that improvement in both assemblability and reverse assemblability can be accomplished easily and securely.